It’s really amazing the difference a little creativity and time can make. In an effort to go green with respect to the arts, one children’s museum is taking steps to become environmentally efficient.
The new section of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum opened its doors to the public last month. According to Interior Design Magazine, The next addition received a silver rating by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building rating system, making it the greenest museum in New York City.
It seems only fitting that the first children’s museum in history would also serve as one of the first environmentally friendly museums. The expansion will double the 109-year-old museum’s size to more than 100,000 sq. ft, adding new second floor exhibition galleries, a kid’s café, lobby, more classrooms, library, gift shop, and extra administrative offices.
Designer Rafael Viñoly kept LEED’s standards in mind while creating the building. Many of the new features were made out of recycled or rapidly renewable materials. This includes bamboo or recycled rubber flooring, geothermal wells for heating and cooling, energy-saving light sensors, and solar electricity.
So there are green homes, green living communities, and now a green museum. What’s next? Well, Viñoly has no plans to stop now. Plans to construct his next project, the city’s first LEED-rated police station, have already begun.
To learn more about the green expansion to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, visit Interiordesign.net.
–Sara
Art Fire's Weblog 
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